Gators top Pittsburgh, advance to Sweet 16

Florida forward Will Yeguete (15) yells after scoring against Pittsburgh on Saturday in Orlando.

Pittsburgh forward Derrick Randall (center) battles for a rebound with Florida defenders Casey Prather (left) and center Patric Young on Saturday in Orlando. Florida won 61-45.

ORLANDO — Florida’s big men were missing layups. Three-point specialist Michael Frazier was having another off-day. And Dorian Finney-Smith, reliable off the bench in recent weeks, couldn’t find his rhythm.

That left the Gators’ second-round NCAA South Region game against Pittsburgh on Saturday up to defense and senior point guard Scottie Wilbekin.

Both came through to send UF to the Sweet 16 for the fourth consecutive season.

Wilbekin put on a stunning second-half display, scoring 13 of his game-high 21 points, and Florida held the Panthers to 37 percent shooting from the floor and 22 percent from beyond the 3-point arc to spark a 61-45 victory at the Amway Center and send the Gators to Memphis on Thursday to play the winner of a Sunday game in San Diego between UCLA and Stephen F. Austin.

Florida (34-2) won its 28th game in a row and earned a Sweet 16 berth for the eighth time in 18 years under coach Billy Donovan. The Gators will have to leave the confines of their home state, where they’re 10-1 in NCAA Tournaments, and chase the elusive goal for this senior class of reaching the Final Four in Dallas by winning twice in Memphis.

“I enjoy that we’re here, that we have the opportunity to continue to play,” said Florida center Patric Young, who overcame a scoreless first half to get seven points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots. “I’m not going to be happy or satisfied until we reach our goal. There is so much potential in this team and greatness with us.”

“I was really, really proud of the way these guys came out and responded from our game on Thursday,” Donovan said. “We didn’t play to our identity [against Albany].”

The Gators were slugging it out with the physical Panthers for the entire first half until Wilbekin provided his first highlight-reel shot of the day. With UF leading 24-22, Wilbekin took an in-bounds pass, dribbled to the top of the key, then made a running 3-pointer at the buzzer to add to Florida’s lead and give them momentum they never relinquished.

“I don’t usually shoot too many runner 3s but it went in, and I was pretty happy about that,” Wilbekin said.

Young shook off his first-half struggles and scored five of Florida’s first seven points to start the second half — including a dunk off an alley-oop pass from Casey Prather with 16:01 left to give the Gators their first double-digit lead of the game at 34-24. Wilbekin started the play by poking the ball loose from a Pitt player, then saving the ball from going out of bounds with a heave to Prather.

Florida bogged down on offense for the next few minutes but Wilbekin scored 11 points in a span of 5:23 to run the Panthers into the off-season. He started off with a 3-point shot, then sliced through the Panthers for layups four times.

“He took care of business,” Pittsburgh forward Lamar Patterson said.

Pittsburgh’s players promised a physical game the day before and they were right.

What they didn’t plan on was the Gators out-muscling and out-hustling them.

Florida outscored the Panthers by 12 points in the paint and turned turnovers into 16 points. UF out-rebounded Pitt 38-31, and beat them to 14 offensive rebounds. Pitt also had problems even getting shots off against the Gators, and frequently took low-percentage heaves with the shot clock winding down.

“Pitt plays hard and they play dirty,” said Frazier, who managed 10 points but made 2-of-9 3-point attempts. “They get down and dirty. We knew that coming in, and we were going to have to match that. We did.”

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said the Gators “were the most physical team we’ve played all year long.”

“They beat us on the glass and beat us to loose balls,” Dixon said. “There’s a reason why they’re the No. 1 seed.”